The Next Karate Kid (1994)

User Rating:

3.8/10   

Director:

Christopher Cain

Writers (WGA):

Robert Mark Kamen (characters)
Mark Lee (written by)

Release Date:

12 August 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Family | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

Who says the good guy has to be a guy?

Plot:

Mr. Miyagi is back and he takes a new pupil under his wing a troubled teenage girl

Plot Keywords:

Girl | Karate | Teenager | Teen Angst | Doberman

Cast

Pat Morita	...	Sgt. Kesuke Miyagi (as Noriyuki "Pat" Morita)
Hilary Swank	...	Julie Pierce
Michael Ironside	...	Col. Dugan
Constance Towers	...	Louisa Pierce
Chris Conrad	...	Eric McGowen
Arsenio 'Sonny' Trinidad	...	Abbot (as Arsenio Trinidad)
Michael Cavalieri	...	Ned
Walton Goggins	...	Charlie (as Walt Goggins)
Jim Ishida	...	Tall Monk
Rodney Kageyama	...	Monk
Seth Sakai	...	Buddhist Monk
Eugene Boles	...	Mr. Harold Wilkes
Keena Keel	...	School Clerk
Tom O'Brien	...	Gabe
Thomas Downey	...	Morgan (as Tom Downey)

Also Known As:

The Karate Kid Part IV (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for violence and some mild language.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:L | Australia:M (original rating) | Peru:PT | South Korea:12 | Philippines:G | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG (re-rating on appeal)

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The fight choreographers gave Hilary Swank a "pink belt" for her mastery of the most flashy techniques, but none of the basics.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During Julie's fight with Ned that she doesn't actually touch him when he goes down.

Quotes:

Julie Pierce: I wish I had courage like you.
Sergeant Kesuke Miyagi: I wish I had chocolate bar with almonds.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Office: The Fight (#2.6)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

I Think I'm In Trouble

Unrealistic and overblown.

Rating: 5/10

Why don't try-hard filmmakers just stop making fools of themselves by sequelizing The Karate Kid? Then the film world would be much more pleasant. This sequel, The Next Karate Kid starts quite well. It hits the mark on the first few lots of 5 minutes and I was possibly interested in seeing the rest of it. Unfortunately, the film faults itself a lot after the promising beginning. The ending in particular is offensive with stupidity and completely overblown. Hilary Swank and Pat Morita handle their main character leads with great emotion, despite some of the cheesy dialogue they are given. The story behind the martial arts is about Julie (Swank) and her best friend, Angel, a bird with a broken wing. Most of the scenes with Angel are touching, and win points for the film. However, the villains are completely laughable and the story leads to times that are so unrealistic that you kind of feel pain for the paper the script has been written on. The film has some mildly good ideas, but overall it fails to make you want to keep watching unless you have absolutely nothing else to do.